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5 Toxic Stocks to Dump Before 2013

BALTIMORE ( Stockpickr) -- Does Mr. Market have you feeling queasy? It could be the roller coaster ride that stocks have been on this year -- or it could just be that you've got toxic stocks in your portfolio.

Stocks caught a key bottom last week, rallying hard off of support as buyers finally came out of hiding. That opens the doors for a more bullish scenario to end the year, something that many investors probably couldn't have imagined just a couple of weeks ago. But not all stocks are going to participate in a broad market move higher. The laggards are already sending signals to shareholders. Are you listening?

That's why, today, we're taking a technical look at five names that could be toxic for your portfolio this fall.

To be fair, the companies I'm talking about today aren't exactly "junk."

I mean, they're not next up in line at bankruptcy court. But that's frankly irrelevant; from a technical analysis standpoint, they're some of the worst positioned names out there right now. For that reason, fundamental investors need to decide how long they're willing to take the pain if they want to hold onto these firms this fall. And for investors looking to buy one of these positions, it makes sense to wait for more favorable technical conditions (and a lower share price) before piling in.

For the unfamiliar,
technical analysis is a way for investors to quantify qualitative factors, such as investor psychology, based on a stock's price action and trends. Once the domain of cloistered trading teams on Wall Street, technicals can help top traders make consistently profitable trades and can aid fundamental investors in better planning their stock execution.